Steelers QB Mason Rudolph Tabbed as Trade Candidate

Steelers QB Mason Rudolph has been tabbed as a trade candidate by the Athletic in their trade deadline article. When naming one trade candidate for each team, the Steelers’ name came in as the veteran quarterback, who has seen those trade deadline rumors pop up many times before, including last season.

“Rudolph is interesting because he’s an expendable veteran third-string quarterback who is playing out a minimum deal he signed in the spring,” they wrote. With Kenny Pickett suffering a pair of concussions and a knee injury during his 17 career starts, the Steelers aren’t likely to be actively seeking to move Rudolph, who is also behind Mitch Trubisky. But if the right deal is offered, general manager Omar Khan has proven not to hesitate.”

Steelers QB Mason Rudolph against the Buffalo Bills, Aug. 19, 2023 – Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

Rudolph is a player in an odd spot as the third quarterback, but he signed back with the Steelers on a one-year deal for a reason after testing the open market. Firmly entrenched as the third quarterback behind Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky, if a team does want Rudolph for decent compensation, it would be hard for the Steelers to turn that down. Yet, it seems like that scenario has never presented itself. Earlier this year, there was even a proposition that Rudolph could head to New England with quarterback turmoil up north.

Rudolph, 27, spent the 2022 season as the Steelers’ third-string quarterback and dressed in just one game.
Before that, Rudolph was the top backup to Ben Roethlisberger from 2019-21. Rudolph played in 17 games in that stretch, making 10 starts, most of them in 2019.

Rudolph has thrown for 2,366 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He has a career 61.5 completion percentage and 80.9 passer rating.

Rudolph was expected to be a successor to Roethlisberger. Still, things didn’t go as planned, starting in the 2019 season, when Roethlisberger was injured, and Rudolph could not grab hold of the job, ceding playing time to undrafted free agent Devlin Hodges.

He played better in sparing action in 2020 and 2021, and Rudolph signed a two-year contract extension in 2021 that again seemed to have him poised as the Steelers’ follow-up to Big Ben. But then the team signed Mitch Trubisky in free agency and drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, which seemed to seal Rudolph’s fate in Pittsburgh. His name continues to pop up on trade radars for those reasons.